Sometimes, things happen In Game, and those things are amazing and exciting and make you feel heroic. Something, things happen In Game that make you feel furious or cry inconsolably or creep you out or terrify you. Sometimes, things happen in game that frustrate you or make you feel foolish. All these experiences - and the feelings - are one of the BEST parts of LARPing in an immersive world like ours! We play in an immersive world, and a big, BIG part of that is the role playing, the choices, the feels that happen. A good immersive LARP SHOULD make you feel all these things, and more!
And of course you want to talk about it between games. Especially with the people who lived those experiences with you. It's exciting and engaging and immersive to relive those experiences, share excitement, vent that frustration. And that's what good friends are for.
Sometimes, things happen In Game that you hate. Someone makes a bad decision, something unfair happens to you, a fight or trial or plotline doesn't go the way you wanted or expected. Something happens that makes your character furious or resentful. And those are powerful emotions. And of course you want to talk about these experiences between games too! You want to solve the problem, change the course of a storyline, correct a mistake. Negative emotions - and especially powerful negative emotions - are another important experience in a good immersive LARP. Especially in an 18+ dark/horror themed LARP like ours. It adds depth to characters, dimension to stories and really drives home how real and terrifying our world is to all of us.
But when Bad Things Happen In Game, things can start to get messy Out of Game. You, the player, want to vent and rage Out of Game about what happened to your character In Game - something unfair or stupid or evil or maybe something just plain bad. Or maybe you want to solve the problem. Or you just want to relive the experience, or even just share something exciting or powerful with other people.
But... when Bad Things happen In Game... The SOLUTIONS also need to happen In Game.
When Bad Things happen In Game to our characters... We need to remember that these things happened to our characters. When other characters do something In Game that makes us mad - we need to remember that these things happened In Game. When plot puts you in a challenging or difficult place In Game - we need to remember that these things happened In Game. When an NPC does something that you think is unfair or evil or just plain stupid In Game - we need to remember that these things happened In Game. The problem that just happened In Game, happened between characters.
So of course - share What Happens In Game experiences: your frustrations, your excitement and anger and joy and sadness and failures and successes. But please remember, that What Happens In Game did not happen to you, the player. The player or NPC or Shaper who did the Bad Things In Game did not do those things to you, the player - they did them In Game, to your character. That means that the solutions to these problems should occur In Game. Metagaming is not the answer. (Metagaming is never the answer). Harassing, blaming, or raging against a fellow player, an NPC, or a shaper Out of Game will not solve your In Game problem. Harassing a person OOG for their actions IG is literally just that - harassment. And we at Underworld do not tolerate harassment of players OOG.
We recognize of course that sometimes bad judgement calls are made Out of Game, by other players, by plot, or by us (the Owners). When this happens, we as Owners, listen to your concerns, look at the issue, see what went wrong, and, hopefully, fix the Out of Game problem. If you have a complaint about how a player, NPC or shaper has been treating you Out of Game, or if the Bad Things are too much, please come talk to us (Dan and myself) or email contact@underworldralinwood.ca. We are always willing to listen to your concerns, and will do our utmost to address them.
That being said... Remember that we are all people, and fundamentally, we are all friends here. Be kind to your friends. Plot is mean enough for everyone.
So let’s all keep in mind... What Happens In Game... Happens In Game.
And of course you want to talk about it between games. Especially with the people who lived those experiences with you. It's exciting and engaging and immersive to relive those experiences, share excitement, vent that frustration. And that's what good friends are for.
Sometimes, things happen In Game that you hate. Someone makes a bad decision, something unfair happens to you, a fight or trial or plotline doesn't go the way you wanted or expected. Something happens that makes your character furious or resentful. And those are powerful emotions. And of course you want to talk about these experiences between games too! You want to solve the problem, change the course of a storyline, correct a mistake. Negative emotions - and especially powerful negative emotions - are another important experience in a good immersive LARP. Especially in an 18+ dark/horror themed LARP like ours. It adds depth to characters, dimension to stories and really drives home how real and terrifying our world is to all of us.
But when Bad Things Happen In Game, things can start to get messy Out of Game. You, the player, want to vent and rage Out of Game about what happened to your character In Game - something unfair or stupid or evil or maybe something just plain bad. Or maybe you want to solve the problem. Or you just want to relive the experience, or even just share something exciting or powerful with other people.
But... when Bad Things happen In Game... The SOLUTIONS also need to happen In Game.
When Bad Things happen In Game to our characters... We need to remember that these things happened to our characters. When other characters do something In Game that makes us mad - we need to remember that these things happened In Game. When plot puts you in a challenging or difficult place In Game - we need to remember that these things happened In Game. When an NPC does something that you think is unfair or evil or just plain stupid In Game - we need to remember that these things happened In Game. The problem that just happened In Game, happened between characters.
So of course - share What Happens In Game experiences: your frustrations, your excitement and anger and joy and sadness and failures and successes. But please remember, that What Happens In Game did not happen to you, the player. The player or NPC or Shaper who did the Bad Things In Game did not do those things to you, the player - they did them In Game, to your character. That means that the solutions to these problems should occur In Game. Metagaming is not the answer. (Metagaming is never the answer). Harassing, blaming, or raging against a fellow player, an NPC, or a shaper Out of Game will not solve your In Game problem. Harassing a person OOG for their actions IG is literally just that - harassment. And we at Underworld do not tolerate harassment of players OOG.
We recognize of course that sometimes bad judgement calls are made Out of Game, by other players, by plot, or by us (the Owners). When this happens, we as Owners, listen to your concerns, look at the issue, see what went wrong, and, hopefully, fix the Out of Game problem. If you have a complaint about how a player, NPC or shaper has been treating you Out of Game, or if the Bad Things are too much, please come talk to us (Dan and myself) or email contact@underworldralinwood.ca. We are always willing to listen to your concerns, and will do our utmost to address them.
That being said... Remember that we are all people, and fundamentally, we are all friends here. Be kind to your friends. Plot is mean enough for everyone.
So let’s all keep in mind... What Happens In Game... Happens In Game.
Owner - Tavernkeep - Forums Admin - Cat Herder
Email: ivanna@underworldralinwood.ca
Email: ivanna@underworldralinwood.ca